Where can I buy and sell bitcoins?

Buying and selling bitcoins differs from country to country. Scroll down for a list of platforms by country. The introduction shows you what you need to consider when buying and selling bitcoins and which payment options you have.

If you want to get started as quickly as possible you have two options

Brokers: using a broker is the most convenient way to buy or sell bitcoins. It is usually faster than going through a marketplace or an exchange and the sign up process is easier. But often this also means a bit higher fees. Coinbase is the most prominent example of a large broker with a presence in 24 countries.

Marketplaces: here you meet with others (online or offline) and buy or sell bitcoins directly from individuals. LocalBitcoins is a good example for an international marketplace. The advantage of a marketplace is that cash can be a payment option.

Exchanges: good exchanges are liquid which often creates the best prices and lowest fees. However, it usually takes a couple of days until the verification process is completed. If you don't want to wait for a few days, a broker is the better choice. If you want to buy larger volumes more frequently signing up with an exchange is worth the money saved.

Consider these 5 factors when you buy or sell bitcoins

Speed: how quickly can you buy and sell? On exchanges the verification process can take a few days but transactions can be very quick. With brokers or marketplaces the initial sign up usually is fast but completing a trade can take a couple of hours or even a day or two.

Security: is the site trustworthy and do they handle your bitcoins in s secure way? Don't fall for players that try to stay anonymous and don't publish the name of their company only for a slightly lower fee.

Fees: transaction fees should be as low as possible of course. Typically brokers are more convenient but also a bit more expensive than exchanges. Before a transaction make sure you know which fees you are paying.

Price: bitcoin prices differ between providers. Before you buy or sell bitcoins make sure to compare prices of different platforms in your country. Different prices are mainly the result of different market liquidity.

Payment options: when you buy bitcoins usually you have to pay with local currency. If you use marketplaces like LocalBitcoins you can meet the seller in person and pay with cash. When you buy bitcoins online you need to do a bank transfer or pay by some other method. Therefore check first if you have access to one of the offered payment options. Different payment options also have an impact on the fees you need to pay.

Bitcoin price of the last 12 months on Bitstamp

List of platforms by country where you can buy and sell bitcoins

To get started quickly we recommend Lykke where you can buy bitcoins with your credit card. If you can't find your country in the list below please check out the three links above. Otherwise LocalBitcoins is a great choice in many countries that are not listed here.

The most liquid USD exchanges are Bitstamp and Bitfinex. Bitstamp is accessible to everyone who can do a bank transfer to their bank account in Slovenia, regardless of the country of your residence.

The most liquid EUR exchanges are GateCoin and Kraken. Besides trading bitcoins for EUR, Kraken also offers USD, GBP and JPY as currencies. If you can make a bank transfer (SEPA or SWIFT, bank deposit in Japan) you can trade on Kraken from everywhere. In Asia the exchange Coincheck

is one of the most popular ones.

The "Type" column indicates whether the platform is a broker (B), a marketplace (M) or an exchange (E).